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BEIJING: A 44-year-old woman in southern China who was suspected of having contracted bird flu died on Monday, state media reported, in what would be the third death from the virus in the Asian nation this year.
The migrant worker, surnamed Zhang, died after developing a fever and a cough following contact with poultry in Guangdong province, the Xinhua news agency said.
Xinhua cited local health officials but the health ministry in Beijing declined to comment. "We have no information on the case," an official at the ministry's media office said when contacted by AFP.
The victim developed symptoms on February 16 consistent with the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus, the Hong Kong-based Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said in a statement released early Monday.
She was hospitalised on Friday, Xinhua said.
If confirmed as a bird flu-related death, it would be the third in China since the start of 2008.
A 41-year-old man died of bird flu in the Guangxi autonomous region in southern China on February 20, while a 22-year-old man in central Hunan province died on January 24.
Not including the death of Zhang in Guangdong, 19 people have been confirmed to have died of bird flu in China since 2003, while 10 others have recovered after catching the virus.
The deadly strain has killed more than 200 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.
Scientists fear the virus can eventually mutate into a form that is much more easily transmissible between humans, triggering a global pandemic.
China conducted a huge campaign last year to contain the disease, vaccinating tens of millions of poultry and stepping up public education efforts. - AFP/ac
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